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US condemns Russian military intervention in Ukraine; Russia says it's protecting Russians
• WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, strongly disagree over what's at stake in the Ukraine crisis.
• Those differing views were made clear in a 90-minute phone call and could make it difficult to find a resolution to the crisis in Ukraine.
• In the Saturday call, Obama called Russia's actions "a clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty" and called for Russia to pull its forces back to bases in Ukraine's Crimean region and de-escalate tensions. President Putin responded that the turmoil in Ukraine posed real threats to the life and health of Russian citizens living in Ukraine and that Russia has the right to protect them.
• Russian troops took over Crimea as the Russian parliament on Saturday granted Putin authority to use the military to protect Russian interests in Ukraine.
• Ukraine's newly installed government was powerless to react to the swarm of Russian troops.
• ___
Storm leaves muddy mess on California foothill homes; rain, snow moving eastward
• LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A thunderstorm that brought sorely-needed rain to drought-plagued California is winding down after sending mudslides down foothill communities, flooding roadways and opening up sinkholes.
• Evacuation orders remained in effect for hundreds of homes in Los Angeles County foothill communities where recent wildfires have burned away vegetation that holds soil in place, and bursts of rain caused occasional debris flows.
• The storm marked a sharp departure from many months of drought that has grown to crisis proportions for the state's vast farming industry. However, such storms would have to be much more frequent to make major headway against the drought, weather forecasters say.
• The heavy band of rain drenched parts of the state throughout Saturday before tapering off by nighttime. While the danger of mudslides was subsiding, officials urged residents who left their homes as much as three days earlier to stay away until Sunday morning.
• "The good news is that it looks like the storm will pass ... but we still need to (Continued on page 30)
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